Coroner: Local TSA Officer Killed at LAX Died Quickly

A Transportation Security Administration officer from Porter Ranch who was killed during a shooting spree at Los Angeles International Airport died within two to five minutes of being shot, the coroner's office announced Wednesday.

The revelation rebuffs a recent suggestion by a union official that Gerardo Hernandez might have survived if he had been attended to more quickly by paramedics after the shooting.

According to the coroner's office, the 39-year-old Hernandez died of multiple gunshot wounds suffered during the Nov. 1 shooting. His death was officially ruled a homicide.

The suspected shooter, 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia, has been charged with a federal count of murder. Ciancia, who was shot four times by police inside Terminal 3, was released Monday from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and taken into federal custody.

The president of the American Federation of Government Employees -- which represents TSA officers -- said earlier this month he was "appalled" to hear that Hernandez was unattended for 33 minutes after being shot.

"In the heat of the moment there will always be an element of confusion, but 33 minutes is absolutely unacceptable," union President J. David Cox said.

"If someone had gotten to him earlier, this could have been a survival story. Instead a wife is left without a husband, children without a father and coworkers without one of their beloved comrades."

Local law enforcement authorities have said they would review responses to the shooting, although they noted paramedics were not able to quickly enter the terminal because an active shooter was still inside.

Some media reports also indicated that police responding to the shooting determined that Hernandez had already died, eliminating the need for an immediate response from paramedics.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck issued a statement early this evening in which he said, "All the facts indicate that any action taken by responding officers or medical personnel would not have saved Officer Hernandez' life. What concerns me most about this is that it brought needless trauma to the grieving family members of Officer Hernandez. It is unconscionable to inflict unnecessary additional suffering to a family that lost a husband, a father, and a loved one in this tragic incident."

Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX, issued a statement calling the coroner's report "a reminder that "it is important to refrain from drawing conclusions until all of the facts are known."

"Numerous investigations and inquiries into the incident and response are under way," according to LAWA. "An After-Action Workgroup is rigorously analyzing all aspects of the multi-discipline response. The findings of that Workgroup will provide the best perspective from which to draw conclusions, make recommendations or take other corrective action."